Hard-hitting presentations focus on putting proposed school closures into perspective

A crowd about 400 strong filled the Seaway District High School gymnasium last week for the accommodation review public meeting to hear public presentations outlining why local schools, including Morrisburg and Iroquois Public Schools and Seaway District High School need to be spared from closure.

Nine delegations presented to the audience that was filled with school supporters, community supporters, board superintendents, area school principals and a handful of Upper Canada District School Board trustees.

The most heavy-hitting presentation came from David Ross, CEO of Ross Video.

Ross who is a graduate of Iroquois Public School and Seaway District High School, runs the company founded by his father that holds many prestigious awards for its technical achievements including a Gemini and an Emmy. Ross Video was founded in Iroquois more than 40 years ago and has continued to grow year after year and is now one of this area’s biggest employers, paying out about $15 million a year to employees in this region.

“This year we will pump more than $200 million worth of product right out of that factory,” he said pointing towards the building located adjacent to the school’s neighbouring shopping plaza.

He is considering a 40,000 square foot facility expansion as soon as next year, but worries that if the school closes there may not be enough employees in the region to justify the expansion here in this area. He also mentioned that 70 per cent of its product is exported to the United States, and that they regularly receive offers from across the border to set up shop there.

Ross called the Ontario government’s education policy warped.

“You can’t possibly agree that what you are proposing makes any sense financially or economically or is in any way good for the kids of rural communities,” said Ross to the school board officials on hand. “You shouldn’t be here making these decisions based on these crazy rules. You should be telling the government and the Ministry of Education that this whole thing is a devastating mistake for rural Ontario.”

On behalf of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry and its 65,000 residents, warden Jamie MacDonald and CAO Tim Simpson made a presentation.

MacDonald spoke about the lack of consultation between the school board officials and municipal officials prior to the school board’s releasing the report that put a target on so many rural schools.

“Unfortunately, discussions should have taken place at the front end of the process, but that did not happen,” said MacDonald. “No issue has ever resonated with residents of SDG like this one. The reason – if accepted, this will have a profound and irreversible negative impact on our rural communities and our rural way of life.”

“The real enemy in all of this is the lack of provincial support,” said Simpson.

The Counties are asking for at least a one year suspension of the process to allow school board and municipal partners to work together in earnest to develop a made in SDG solution.

“The loss of students to other boards will be real and profound,” cautioned Simpson. “That impact could be mitigated by making strategic decisions.”

“No SDG school should be sacrificed for the sake of a policy that does not fully reflect the unique circumstances of our local students,” said MacDonald.

On behalf of the Municipality of South Dundas, mayor Evonne Delegarde and councillor Marc St. Pierre presented.

“I’m a little nervous, but more upset that I have to stand here and beg to keep Seaway open,” said St. Pierre.

Delegarde listed the vast community assets and resources that the schools have access to because of their location and then said, “The idea of losing Seaway District High School is unacceptable. Rural schools do matter.”

“We will work together to achieve the best fit solution for the youth of South Dundas,” she concluded.

Tracey Stewart, a pharmacist in Iroquois, and Victoria Windle, a physiotherapist from Morrisburg, spoke separately on the impacts of school closures, but with similar health care-type backgrounds, each spoke about the negative health effects of long bus rides and less physical activity.

Stewart, who grew up in Iroquois, pointed out that it’s hard to bring new urban people to rural areas. “We need our rural students. It’s our rural students that come back to rural communities to take care of our needs,” she said, referring to taking over businesses like hers, so the business owners of today can some day retire.

Windle moved here because she had been working in this community with her kids going to school in another community. She said that the difficulties in having her kids far from her in the day time, made it difficult to pick up a sick kid from school, or volunteer or participate in school activities.

“It took a toll on our quality of life, so we decided to move here – and now this,” said Windle.

Bonnie Adair spoke about the history of schools in South Dundas, and concluded by saying, “The loss of Seaway would sound the death knell for this village.”

Alyssa Grant presented her perspective as a student, including the emotional and negative impact of the closure proposal within the walls of the building. “This is Seaway’s 50th anniversary this year, we don’t want it to be its last,” she said.

He outlined a plan to make Morrisburg Public School a K-6 school and Iroquois, in the Seaway building a K-12 school, with French immersion offered at both. His proposal would close Iroquois Public School.

“It may sound anti-intuitive but it would leave a school in both communities with MPS at 79 per cent capacity and SDHS at 93 per cent capacity.”

The November 17th meeting was the first of two public ARC meetings scheduled for this area. The second will take place January 31, 2017 at North Dundas District High School.

The UCDSB will have its vote in March to determine which schools will close at the end of the school year.

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Sometimes, as I watched the hilarious high-jinks on the stage of Upper Canada Playhouse during the debut of its new production, No Sex Please, We’re British, I kept having visions of director Richard Bauer, in rehearsals.

He was invariably dressed as a ringmaster.

This is not a play where one or two events, even three or four, take place simultaneously. No, it is a regular three-ring circus of a play with outrageous lines and actions, and a cast that springs into action in Act I and never slows for breath.

Judging by the explosions of laughter from the audience, that is just fine with them.

No Sex Please, We’re British, continues a Playhouse tradition of presenting outstanding farces as part of the summer season. This classic play by writers Anthony Marriott and Alistair Foot, has been performed in over 52 countries to date.

With a cast of 10, most of whom may actually be dashing about the stage at any one time, Bauer is working with very talented, not to say, agile and energetic actors.

The plot of No Sex Please is a clever mishmash of the morals and complications of life in the 1960s. London might have been swinging in that decade, but the household of newly weds, Peter and Frances Hunter, is definitely not supposed to be. Unfortunately, Frances’ (Katie Lawson) innocent attempts to start a home business by replying to a newspaper ad, go sadly awry. Instead of family glassware, in short order, Swedish post cards (not of the Alps!), plain brown wrapper covered books and 8 mm films (with titles like Dick Turpin Rides Again…and Again and Again) arrive at the Hunter flat non-stop.

Peter (Derek Moran) a junior in his conservative bank, simply cannot afford a pornography scandal. Laws being what they were in London in the 1960s, he simply must get the stuff out of his home and far, far away.

Or, as plodding Superintendent Paul, (Zack Counsil) investigating a pornography ring rumoured to be in the neighbourhood, puts it, “Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. That’s why we do such a thorough investigation.”

Never has a man triggered more wrong in his muddled, desperately sincere efforts to do right, than Mr. Runnicles. All he came to the Hunter flat to do was deliver a belated wedding gift, a (rather garish) painting of Vegetables of Provence (“The French have very big cucumbers…”).

Immediately, unintentionally, Runnicles finds himself the notorious Phantom Pornographer, sought by the police. Charged with getting rid of the erotica by a frantic Peter, Runnicles hilariously discovers that it appears to be stubbornly indestructible. Neither toilets, garbage disposals, St. Mark’s Rummage sale, nor the mighty Thames itself, appear capable of eliminating these Swedish imports.

Then Susan and Barbara, two very ‘avant garde’ ladies (Katie Leamen and Jackie English), who may just possibly be Swedish (Oh, dear!) arrive, determined to help “smooth things over.”

Full of extraordinary sight gags, triple entendres, lovable if mad characters, and a laugh about every 60 seconds, No Sex Please, We’re British is delightful summer fair.

As Mr. Runnicles hopefully puts it, “You have to keep cool in a crisis. Think it through.”

No one does.

Isn’t that half the fun of farce?

For tickets to No Sex Please, We’re British, contact Upper Canada Playhouse at 613-543-3713 or go on line at uppercanadaplayhouse.com. The play runs until August 25.

On March 23rd, Guy Lauzon, Member of Parliament was pleased to report that the Honourable Peter Kent, Minister of the Environment, announced funding of $140,000 to be allocated to the Raisin Region Conservation Authority under the Great Lakes Sustainability Fund.

Minister Kent announced more than $3.3 million in Government of Canada funding committed under the Great Lakes Sustainability Fund for 46 projects to clean up the severely degraded geographic regions officially designated as Great Lakes Areas of Concern.

“I am pleased to report that the St. Lawrence River and the City of Cornwall will benefit greatly from these funds,” said Lauzon, “the Raisin Region Conservation Authority will use these funds towards four projects aimed at improving the water quality and protecting the fish habitat of the river.”

The federal government has allocated these funds to the Raisin Region Conservation Authority for the following projects:

•St. Lawrence River Restoration Council for local RAP development, implementation, co-ordination, community engagement, monitoring and reporting. – $45,000

“I would like to commend the Raisin Region Conservation Authority for taking the initiative to protect and enhance the St. Lawrence River in our community,” said Lauzon, “these improvements will benefit the environment and residents of Cornwall greatly.”

The Great Lakes Sustainability Fund was established to work in partnership with other agencies and local community stakeholders to advance Remedial Action Plans that have been developed for each of Canada’s remaining “Areas of Concern” (AOC) located within the Great Lakes Basin.

GLSF provides technical and financial support to projects (up to one-third of the total cost) that implement remedial actions to complete the clean up and restoration in three key priority areas: fish and wildlife habitat rehabilitation and stewardship; contaminated sediment assessment and remediation; and innovative approaches to improve municipal wastewater effluent quality.

Forty area school children, gathered Monday to learn about a community splash pad project set for this summer, here in Earl Baker Park.

Having already secured about half of the $200,000 needed to make the splash pad a reality, the community playground committee was surprised with a $10,000 cheque from the local Legion, Branch 48 in Morrisburg at the launch of the fundraising campaign.

“What a great way to start,” said Matt McCooeye, committee spokesperson. “In our last campaign, they were among the first to step up and contribute. We really felt their generosity served as a springboard for all of the great community support we received in our last campaign.”

The community playground group, which was created in 2011, piloted a community driven campaign that recruited over 225 volunteers and raised over $114,00 to build the playground in Earl Baker Park.

The splash pad is phase two of that 2011 project.

Legion president Graham Houze, said they were happy to provide $10,000 to this cause. “It’s a very worthwhile cause for the children and the people of the area, so we thought we would throw our support behind it with this donation.”

“The concept is about the whole community working together to deliver something for the kids,” said McCooeye.

Like the in phase one, the children will have a say in their new splash pad, which the committee intends to have completed by the end of this year.

“It is important for us to engage all people in South Dundas, including the kids,” said McCooeye. “We want to get the kids’ input into what they want included. We can’t wait to hear what they have to say.”

The kids will get their say as part of the ‘Dotmacracy’ when the committee visits area schools in June. Kids will have the opportunity to vote on their favourite features, and that input will be used for the creation of the final design.

Since the project is meant to be a community endeavour, anyone who has an idea to help fund raise for the splash pad is welcome to bring it to the committee.

Already, a local band – One Night Standards, has approached the committee to hold a fund raising dance for the splash pad. Lane Hunter, Oak Hunter, Troy McMillan and Night Hunter will play the Morrisburg Legion, May 17, with all proceeds going to the splash pad.